Pharmaceutical composition containing silybin and ve

ABSTRACT

A pharmaceutical composition is prepared from the following raw materials (in parts by weight): silybin (8.75-60), phospholipid (15-65), a Pu&#39;er tea extract (25-200), and vitamin E (6.25-40). The composition has the effect of treating non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/560,573 filed on Sep. 22, 2017, which is a National phase application of PCT International Patent Application PCT/CN2016/077035 filed on Mar. 22, 2016, which claims the priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201510128638.8 filed on Mar. 23, 2015, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by references in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the technical field of medicines, and particularly to a pharmaceutical composition containing silybin for the treatment of hepatopathy.

BACKGROUND ART

In the late 1960s and 1980s, the pharmaceutists of West Germany with H. Wagner as representative extracted the active ingredient from the fruit of the Silybummarianum, which is named as silymarin, a new class of flavonoid having a C-9 substituents, i.e., a flavonoid lignans condensed with a dihydroflavonol and a phenylpropanoid derivative. Silybin (silibinin) is one of the main components of silymarin. Pharmacological and toxicological studies have shown that silybin has the effects of protecting and stabilizing the hepatocyte membrane, promoting the recovery of hepatocyte and improving the liver function. Silybin has different levels of protection and treatment effects on various types of hepatic injury caused by hepatic poisons such as carbon tetrachloride, thioacetamide, hydroxycholine, phalloidin, mucronatine, etc. And silybin can be used for treating acute and chronic hepatitis, early hepatocirrhosis, fatty liver, toxic or drug-induced hepatopathy.

The silybin is poor in water solubility and common organic solvents, resulting in low bioavailability and thereby affecting the clinical efficacy. To improve the bioavailability thereof, domestic and external pharmacy workers have made substantial amounts of work. The measures to improve the absorption of poorly soluble drugs are typically superfine grinding, salinization, and the addition of cosolvent, etc. In recent years, the studies have shown that the dissolution and bioavailability are greatly improved by the methods of formulating into cyclodextrin inclusion compound, solid dispersion, synthetic phospholipid complex and formulating into different dosage forms.

From the perspective of solid preparation, the phospholipid complex is a more specific solid dispersion, which has a fixed melting point, is a molecular compound (complex) whose chemical nature is more stable and different from the compound of drug and phospholipid, such compounds varies with the types of phospholipid and ratios of drug to phospholipid, and a phospholipid molecule can be bound with a different number of drug molecules. Deduced from the spectroscopy characteristics of the complex, the drug has a strong interaction with the polar groups of the phospholipid, which inhibits the free rotation of the single chains in the molecule, whereas the two long fatty acid chains of the phospholipid do not participate in the complex reaction and are free to shift and wrap the polar portions of the phospholipid to form a lipophilic surface, so that the complex shows strong lipid solubility. The complex changes the physiochemical properties of drug, and thus increases the lipid solubility of the drugs and reduces the water solubility of the drugs, and promotes the combination of drug molecules and cell membranes to improve the absorption and increases the bioavailability of the drug.

Pu'er tea is a unique and famous tea in Yunnan province. The locality has moderate climate, abundant rainfall and is mist-shrouded. Pu'er tea is divided into two series by Yunan big leaf species sun-dry tea and reprocessing thereof: the enzymic Pu'er tea by directly re-processing into the finished product and the enzymic Pu'er tea by re-processing after the artificial accelerated fermentation, and the patterns of which are divided into loose tea and compressed tea; natural aging process is also persistently carried out after the finished products, with the unique qualities gets better.

Pu'er tea is the only post-fermented tea, and substances harmful to the human body such as theophylline, tea polyphenols are degraded in the long process of fermentation, so the product is mild, does not stimulate the body, and also can promote metabolism, accelerate the digestion and transformation of fats and toxins in the body. For the problems of obesity and three-hypes which are puzzling urbanites, Pu'er tea can play a good mitigation effect, such as expelling of toxin, nourishing the stomach, anti-inflammatory, reducing the cholesterol, off lipid and removing grease, cosmetic slimming. Modern technologies show that Pu'er tea can improve insulin resistance, regulate levels of blood lipid and leptin, etc., and can block the fat accumulation of hepatic parenchymal cell caused by insulin resistance to some extent.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a metabolic stress-induced hepatic injury that is closely related to insulin resistance and genetic susceptibility, the pathological changes of which are similar to alcoholic fatty liver disease. NAFLD is a clinicopathological syndrome characterized by steatosis and fat storage of hepatocytes in the hepatic lobule but without history of alcohol abuse. NAFLD shows different degrees of hepatic lesion, from simple fatty liver without any inflammation to severe inflammatory response of severe fibrosis and even cirrhosis, mainly includes 3 types: simple fatty liver, steatohepatitis, fatty cirrhosis.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Treatment:

1. Prevention of protopathies or associated risk factors.

2. Basal treatment: developing a reasonable energy intake and diet adjustment, taking moderate aerobic exercises, correcting bad lifestyles and behaviors.

3. Avoiding aggravating hepatic injury: preventing a sharp decline in weight, drug abuse and other factors that may induce exacerbation of hepatopathy.

4. Weight loss: requiring all NAFLD patients who are overweight, and have visceral obesity and rapid weight gain in the short term to change the lifestyles to control weight and reduce waist circumference. Basal treatment for 6 months, weight loss <0.45 kg per month, or body mass index (BMI) >27 kg/m² combined with blood lipid, blood glucose, blood pressure and other indicators of more than two abnormalities may consider adding sibutramine or orlistat and other obesity drugs, weight loss per week should not exceed 1.2 Kg (children do not exceed 0.5 Kg per week); BMI >40 kg/m² or BMI >35 kg/m² combined with sleep apnea syndrome and other obesity-related diseases, may consider the proximal end gastric bypass procedures to lose weight (II-1, II-2, II-3, III).

5. Insulin sensitizer: combined with type 2 diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, fasting plasma glucose and visceral obesity, may consider the application of metformin and thiazolidinediones in order to improve insulin resistance and control of blood glucose (II-1, II-2, II-3).

6. Hypolipidemic agents: dyslipidemia, with basal treatment and (or) application of weight loss and hypoglycemic drugs for more than 3-6 months, is still mixed with hyperlipidemia or hyperlipidemia, combined with more than 2 risk factors, should consider adding the use of fibrates, statins or probucol and other hypolipidemic drugs (II-1, II-2, II-3).

7. Drugs for hepatopathy: NAFLD associated with hepatic dysfunction, metabolic syndrome, 3-6 months after basal treatment remains ineffective, and liver biopsy shows NASH and chronic progression of the course of the disease, the drug auxiliary treatment for hepatopathy can be used with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrosis, and related drugs (II-1, II-2, II-3, III) such as polyene phosphatidylcholine, vitamin E, silymarin and ursodeoxycholic acid can be rationally chosen according to drug performance, disease activity and stage of the disease, but multi-drugs should not be applied simultaneously.

8. Liver transplantation: mainly for NASH-related end-stage hepatopathy and some cryptogenic J hepatocirrhosis, and the metabolic condition (III) should be screened before liver transplantation. BMI >40 kg/m² is contraindication to liver transplantation (III).

The above treatments have not been used by being mixed together, such as a combination of hypoglycemic and hepatopathy drugs, or a combination of lipid-lowering and hepatopathy drugs. Therefore, the search for a pharmaceutical with a variety of health-promoting functions cannot wait.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition and a preparation thereof, which is therapeutically effective for non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, and also has a synergistic effect on the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases when the four are combined in use.

The present invention provides the methods for preparing the pharmaceutical composition and the preparation thereof.

The present invention is achieved by the following technical solutions:

A pharmaceutical composition is prepared from the following bulk drugs by weight ratio:

-   -   8.75-60 parts of silybin,     -   15-65 parts of phospholipid,     -   25-150 parts of Pu'er tea extract, and     -   6.25-40 parts of vitamin E.

It is preferably prepared from the following bulk drugs by weight ratio:

-   -   25-40 parts of silybin,     -   30-50 parts of phospholipid,     -   80-120 parts of Pu'er tea extract, and     -   20-30 parts of vitamin E.

It is most preferably prepared from the following bulk drugs by weight ratio:

-   -   35 parts of silybin,     -   42 parts of phospholipid,     -   100 parts of Pu'er tea extract, and     -   25 parts of vitamin E.

The phospholipid of the present invention is a phospholipid or lecithin, which is mainly composed of phosphatidylcholine, preferably soybean phospholipid.

The role of the phospholipid in the present invention is to promote the dissolution and absorption of pharmaceuticals, silybin is a pharmaceutical with low solubility and low permeability, and the phospholipid is combined therewith to form a phospholipid complex so as to improve solubility of the silybin, thereby improving the bioavailability of the pharmaceuticals.

Described silybin and phospholipid are both known from the prior art or commercially available. In order to better exert the efficacy of the present invention, the silybin of the present invention is preferably prepared by dissolving silymarin in 80% ethanol, filtering and washing the precipitate with 95% ethanol for three times, collecting the precipitate. The precipitate is dissolved in anhydrous ethanol, filtered, and the filtrate is added with a certain amount of water to separate out the precipitate, and the precipitate is collected by filtration, dried under reduced pressure, pulverized and mixed.

The Pu'er tea extract is commercially available, preferably a DEEPURE® Pu'er tea essence. It is also possible to be prepared according to the prior art. In order to better exert the efficacy of the present invention, Pu'er tea essence or Pu'er tea extract is preferably prepared according to the method of patents (publication No. CN101961061A, CN101961061B, CN101961425A, CN101961425B, CN101961060A, CN101961059A, CN101961059B).

For example, said Pu'er tea essence is prepared as follows:

Step 1, Pu'er tea leaves are decocted with 6-12 times the volume of water for 2-4 times, 0.5-2 hours each time; extract solution is filtered, and filtrate is concentrated under reduced pressure and the temperature of ≤70° C. to the weight of tea leaves:the volume of concentrate=1:2-1:3;

Step 2, the concentrate is centrifuged with a centrifuge, the centrifugate is concentrated under reduced pressure to density of 1.1-1.25 at 45-65° C., concentrated cream is spray dried or microwave dried to obtain the final product.

Preferably, the steps are present as follows:

Step 1, Pu'er tea leaves are decocted with 6-12 times the volume of vigorously boiling water for 3 times, 0.5-2 hours each time; extract solution is filtered, and filtrate is concentrated under reduced pressure and the temperature of ≤70° C. to the weight of tea leaves:the volume of concentrate=1:2-1:3;

Step 2, the concentrate is centrifuged with a tripod pendulum type batch centrifugal, the tripod pendulum is centrifuged with a tubular-bowl centrifuge, and the centrifugate is concentrated under reduced pressure to density of 1.1-1.25 at 45-65° C., concentrated cream is spray dried or microwave dried to obtain the final product; wherein tubular-bowl centrifuge condition is: centrifuge speed: 15000-19000 rpm/min; spray drying conditions are: inlet temperature: 140-190° C., outlet temperature: 75-95° C.

Most preferably, the steps are present as follows:

Pu'er tea leaves are decocted with vigorously boiling water for 3 times, the first time decocted for 1.5 h, 10 times the volume of water added; the second time decocted for 1.5 h, 8 times the volume of water added; the third time decocted for 1 h, 8 times the volume of water added, extract solution is filtered, and filtrate is concentrated under reduced pressure and the temperature of ≤70° C. to the weight of tea leaves:the volume of concentrate=1:2-1:3, the concentrate is centrifuged with a tripod pendulum type batch centrifugal, the tripod pendulum is centrifuged with a tubular-bowl centrifuge, and the centrifugate is concentrated under reduced pressure to density of 1.1-1.25 at 45-65° C., concentrated cream is spray dried or microwave dried to obtain the final product;

wherein tubular-bowl centrifuge condition is: centrifuge speed: 15000-19000 rpm/min; spray drying conditions are: inlet temperature: 140-190° C., outlet temperature: 75-95° C.

The vitamin E is any one of commercially available vitamin E for dietary supplementation or drug use, vitamin E acetate and vitamin E succinate.

The above compositions are made by weight ratios, and may be increased or reduced according to corresponding proportion in production processes, such as large-scale production can be in unit of kg or T (ton); small scale preparations can also be in unit of g. The weight can be increased or reduced, but the proportions of the weight ratio of bulk drugs between the components remain unchanged.

The proportions of the above weight ratio are obtained through scientific screening, for special patients, such as patients with severe or mild symptom, obese or thin patients, the proportions of the amount of composition can be accordingly adjusted, increased or decreased no more than 10%, the efficacy is substantially constant.

Any pharmaceutically acceptable dosage forms can be formulated in the formulation of a pharmaceutical preparation, the dosage forms are selected from: tablet, sugar coated tablet, film coated tablet, enteric coated tablet, capsule, hard capsule, soft capsule, oral liquid, oral agent, granule, pill, powder, paste, sublimed preparation, suspension agent, solution, injection, suppository, ointment, emplastrum, creme, spray, patch. Preferably oral preparations, and optimal preferably tablet, capsule, granule.

Some pharmaceutically acceptable carriers can be added into the compositions of the present invention as needed, the pharmaceutical preparations can be prepared using galenic pharmacy conventional techniques, such as mixing the pharmaceutically active substances with pharmaceutically acceptable carriers. The pharmaceutically acceptable carriers are selected from: mannitol, sorbitol, sorbic acid or sylvite, sodium metabisulfite, sodium bisulfate, sodium thiosulfate, cysteine hydrochloride, mercaptoacetic acid, methionine, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin D, azone, disodium EDTA, calcium disodium EDTA, the carbonate, acetate, phosphate of monovalence alkali metal or aqueous solution thereof, hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, amino acid, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium lactate, xylitol, maltose, glucose, fructose, dextran, glycine, starch, sucrose, lactose, mannitol, silicon derivative, cellulose and derivate thereof, alginate, gelatin, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, glycerine, propylene glycol, ethanol, Tween 60-80, Span-80, beeswax, lanolin, liquid paraffin, cetyl alcohol, gallic acid esters, agar, triethanolamine, basic amino acid, urea, allantoin, calcium carbonate, calcium bicarbonate, surfactant, polyethylene glycol, cyclodextrin, beta-cyclodextrin, phospholipid material, kaolin, talc, calcium stearate, magnesium stearate, etc. Preferably, the carrier is one or more of microcrystalline cellulose, lactose, starch, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, low substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose, talc.

When the composition of the present invention is prepared into medicament, the unit dosage of the medicament may contain 0.1-1,000 mg of the pharmaceutically active substance of the present invention, and the remainders are pharmaceutically acceptable carriers. The pharmaceutically acceptable carriers may be 0.1-99.9% of the total preparation weight by weight. Preferably, the pharmaceutically acceptable carriers may be 40-70% of the total preparation weight by weight.

The usage and dosage of the Chinese traditional medicine compositions or preparations of the present invention are determined according to the conditions of patients while being used.

The cumulative dissolution rate of the pharmaceutical composition preparations according to the present invention, such as tablets, capsules, granules and so on, is not less than 60% while dissolution in vitro for 2 h and the dissolution rate is greater than or equal to 15% while dissolution in vitro for 30 min, in a dissolution condition: slurry method, rotation speed of 100 rpm and temperature of 37° C., and release medium is: 1000 ml of hydrochloric acid solution at pH1.2, dosage: 1 capsule/1 tablet/1 bag granules.

A preparation method of the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention comprises the following steps:

{circle around (1)} taking a prescription amount of raw materials for later use;

{circle around (2)} preparation of silybin complex liquid: weighing a prescription amount of silybin and phospholipid, and dissolving them in the anhydrous ethanol, heating and refluxing to clarify the solution and continuing to heat for a certain time, then concentrating the clear solution under reduced pressure to a certain volume, to obtain the silybin complex liquid for later use;

{circle around (3)} granulation: weighing a prescription amount of Pu'er tea extract as a base material, taking the silybin complex liquid prepared in step{circle around (2)} as a feed liquid, and preparing granules by a fluidization spray method with a fluidized bed, and drying after the liquid complex is all sprayed in for later use;

{circle around (4)} total blending: mixing vitamin E and the granules of step{circle around (3)} uniformly to obtain the pharmaceutical composition;

The present invention also includes a preparation step{circle around (5)}, taking the pharmaceutical composition of step{circle around (4)} and pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, and preparing pharmaceutically acceptable dosage forms according to the conventional preparation process.

Further preferably, the preparation method of the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention, comprises the following steps:

{circle around (1)} taking a prescription amount of raw materials for later use;

{circle around (2)} preparation of silybin complex liquid: weighing a prescription amount of silybin and phospholipid, and dissolving them in the anhydrous ethanol, heating and refluxing to clarify the solution and continuing to heat for a certain time, then concentrating the clear solution under reduced pressure to a certain volume, to obtain the silybin complex liquid for later use;

{circle around (3)} granulation: weighing a prescription amount of Pu'er tea extract as a base material, taking the silybin complex liquid prepared in step{circle around (2)} as a feed liquid, and preparing granules by a fluidization spray method with a fluidized bed, and drying after the liquid complex is all sprayed in for later use;

{circle around (4)} total blending: mixing vitamin E and the granules of step{circle around (3)} uniformly in an equal incremental manner to obtain the pharmaceutical composition;

{circle around (5)} preparing pharmaceutically acceptable dosage forms according to the conventional preparation process.

Wherein the heating time described in step {circle around (2)} is 0.5-1.5 hours; the concentrated volume is 5%-20% of the original volume and the temperature of concentration under reduced pressure is 60-80° C.

Wherein the parameters of the fluidized bed in step {circle around (3)} are: the temperature of the materials is 40-65° C., during the granulation process, the parameters such as fan frequency, inlet air temperature and infusion frequency are adjusted to keep the materials in good fluidization state.

After completing the granulation, the granules are dried for 10-60 minutes, and the drying temperature is 55-65° C.

Pu'er tea can improve insulin resistance, regulate the levels of blood lipid and leptin and other effects, can block the fat accumulation of hepatic parenchymal cell caused by insulin resistance to a certain extent, combined with the strong free radical scavenging and anti-oxidative stress ability of silybin, Ve is added to further enhance the effects of the products in beautifying skin, and the three have a better anti-NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases) effect as well as skin-beautifying effect.

Experimental Example 1 Dissolution Experiment In Vitro

The dissolutions of the silybin-phospholipid-Pu'er tea-vitamin E compositions obtained in embodiments 18-22 are determined under the following conditions: the selection of the dissolution methods is based on the properties of the main component silybin in the compositions, the silybin, as a medicament with low solubility and low permeability, is the fourth category in the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS), dissolution and absorption thereof are both the rate-limiting steps, either of which should be resolved at the same time in order to improve the bioavailability of the pharmaceuticals. Dissolution stage of the silybin is mainly carried out in the stomach, the absorption stage is mainly carried out in the small intestine, and measuring the in-vitro dissolution of the pharmaceutical helps to improve the bioavailability of the pharmaceuticals. Therefore, the following dissolution method is chosen to evaluate the composition: slurry method, rotation speed of 100 rpm and temperature of 37° C., and release medium is: 1000 ml of hydrochloric acid solution at pH1.2, dosage: 1 capsule/1 tablet/1 bag granules. The sampling points are: 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 min. The cumulative dissolution is determined. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Accumulated dissolution (%) time Embodi- Embodi- Embodi- Embodi- Embodi- Embodi- Embodi- Embodi- Embodi- (min) ment 1 ment 16 ment 18 ment 19 ment 20 ment 21 ment 22 ment 24 ment 25 15 14.95% 12.86% 17.75% 16.45% 12.86%  3.35%  7.90%  5.28%  4.98% 30 54.09% 55.65% 51.04% 54.21% 55.65% 16.59% 35.66% 18.23% 14.97% 45 76.99% 67.79% 77.92% 75.98% 67.79% 49.47% 62.13% 52.37% 50.09% 60 79.90% 78.43% 78.56% 79.42% 78.43% 65.13% 72.10% 67.28% 66.93% 90 81.45% 80.01% 82.35% 80.13% 80.01% 78.41% 79.20% 78.09% 80.28% 120 85.29% 80.86% 83.89% 80.78% 80.86% 79.69% 81.11% 82.89% 81.99%

The dissolution determination of the reference preparation (silybin-phospholipid complex preparation, laboratory homemade) is carried out, and compared with the silybin-phospholipid-Pu'er tea-vitamin E compositions prepared in embodiments 18-22, and the results are as shown in FIG. 1. It can be seen from the data in Table 1 and the graph of FIG. 1:

The in-vitro release of the silybin-phospholipid-Pu'er tea-vitamin E composition prepared by the preparation method of the present invention is significantly better than that of the reference preparation silybin-phospholipid complex, surprisingly, the cumulative dissolution of the composition in the hydrochloric acid solution at pH1.2 for 2 h reaches to 80%, nearly completely dissolved, which is doubled as compared with that of the reference preparation, resolving the problems of low solubility and low bioavailability of silybin that have always existed, which will provide the basis for the studies of dose setting and in-vivo safety and efficacy of silybin composition in the future.

Pooling the data of in-vitro dissolution experiments and in-vivo pharmacological researches, the present invention further improves the dissolution of the pharmaceutical by combining the silybin-phospholipid complex with Pu'er tea and vitamin E, by continuing the absorption improvements of the pharmaceutical by increasing the compatibility of the pharmaceutical and the biofilm after the combination of silybin and phospholipid, from two aspects of improving the dissolution and absorption to improve the bioavailability of the main component silybin.

Experimental Example 2 Evaluation of Pharmacodynamics In Vivo

1 Experimental Animals

80 mice with SPF grade and 6-week-old male C57 BL/6J leptin-deficient (ob/ob), 10 mice with SPF grade and 6 weeks old male C57 BL/6J (ob/m), provided by the Beijing Huafukang Bioscience Co., Inc., raised in Tasly Institute's pharmacological toxicology research center barrier animal room, at the temperature of 20° C.-25° C., relative humidity of 60%, 5 mice in each cage, lighting time of 12 hours, timely and quantitative feed, ob/ob mice are fed with high fat diet (HFD, D12492), C57 BL/6J mice are fed with normal diet, both are provided by Beijing Huafukang Bioscience Co., Inc., and free drinking water, daily replacement of padding.

2 Tested Substances

Silybin-phospholipid complex, provided by Tasly Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., lot number 500902031; Pu'er tea essence, brown powder, provided by Tasly Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., lot number Z001 PE(2014)C06(H); water-soluble vitamin E, produced by Sigma Company, the above tested substances are stored in the sample cabinet of the test room of Pharmacology Institute to be protected from light at room temperature.

3 Experimental Methods

3.1 Experimental Dose Design and Grouping

The silybin-phospholipid complex is administered to the experimental animals at a daily dose of 3 g (containing silybin 420 mg, soybean phospholipid 504 mg); the Pu'er tea extract is administered to the experimental animals at a daily dose of 1.2 g. The compatibility proportions and the experimental dose designs of the five different compositions are shown in Table 2, the dose of the experimental animals is set to the corresponding equivalent dose of the corresponding tested substances, the formula for calculation is as follows:

animal  experimental  dose = recommended  human  dose/60  kg^(*)12.3

TABLE 2 Dose of different compositions Recommended human daily dose (mg) Prescription Combination Combination Combination Combination Combination pharmaceuticals 1 2 3 4 5 Silybin 420 420 420 105 105 phospholipid 504 780 780 195 195 Pu'er tea extract 1200 1200 2400 300 1200 Vitamin E 300 300 75 150 150 Experimental animal dose design (mg/kg) Prescription Combination Combination Combination Combination Combination pharmaceuticals 1 2 3 4 5 Silybin 86.10 86.10 86.10 21.53 21.53 phospholipid 103.32 160.00 160.00 40.00 40.00 Pu'er tea extract 246.00 246.00 492.00 61.50 246.00 Vitamin E 61.50 61.50 15.38 30.75 30.75

3.2 Administration of Tested Substances

After 1 week of adaptive feeding, 80 ob/ob mice of 6-week-old are randomly divided into 8 groups: a model group, a silybin-phospholipid complex group, a Pu'er tea extract group, a combination 1 group, a combination 2 group, a combination 3 group, a combination 4 group, and a combination 5 group, 10 mice for each group. Another 10 C57BL/6J mice of 6-week-old are in a normal group. Normal group mice are fed with normal diet, the model group and the administration group are fed with high fat diet (HFD, D12492). In addition, the mice in different drugs intervention groups are given the corresponding doses of drugs by means of intragastric administration, the doses of the five compositions are shown in Table 1, the normal group and the model group are given the same amount of distilled water, continuous intragastric administration for 6 weeks.

The mice are free to eat and drink during the experiment, weekly weight, and the doses are adjusted according to the body weight. After the last administration, fasting for 12 h, cannot help but water, weighing the body weight, extracting rats' eyeballs to collect blood and then put them to death by breaking their necks, and the liver is harvested rapidly, physiological saline rinsing, filter paper blotting and preserved in a −20° C. refrigerator after weighing.

3.3 Detecting Indicators and Methods

3.3.1 General Observation

The weights of mice in each group are measured weekly during the experiment.

3.3.2 Calculation of the Liver Index and Observation of the General Morphology of the Liver

After finishing the experiment, the liver is weighed and the liver index is calculated, the liver index (%)=liver wet weight/body weight*100%.

3.3.3 Determination of Serum Biochemical Indexes

Blood of all the mice are collected by extracting rats' eyeballs and centrifuged at 3000 r/min for 15 minutes, the serum is separated and collected in an EP tube and stored at −20° C. refrigerator for later use. The content of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (AST), glutamicpyruvic transaminase (ALT), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in serum are measured by 7020 automatic biochemistry instrument.

3.3.4 Insulin Resistant Index

Serum FINS is detected using the Elisa kit and the insulin resistance index is calculated by the formula.

${{Hom}{\text{e-}\text{I}}R} = \frac{FBG \times FINS}{2{2.5}}$

3.3.5 Liver Histopathological Examination

Frozen sections are prepared from frozen liver tissues and the degree of hepatic steatosis is observed by oil red O staining. Oil red O staining operation steps: frozen slicing→sufficiently washing with distilled water→staining with oil red O diluent in the dark for 10-15 minutes→taking out 6 ml of oil red O saturated liquid, adding 4 ml of distilled water, leaving it for 5-10 minutes and filtrating for later use→differentiating to interstitial clear under mirror with 60% ethanol→washing with water→nuclear counter staining with hematoxylin→washing with water→sealing piece with neutral gum→microscope observation.

3.4 Data Processing

SPSS 15.0 statistical software is used for analysis, the data are expressed as mean±standard deviation, the t test is used to analyze whether there's any difference between the two groups before and after treatment or not, and the difference is statistically significant with P<0.05.

4 Experimental Results

4.1 The Effects of Each Tested Substance on Body Weight

Mice in each group are measured once a week during the experiment, and the effects of each group of medicaments on body weight of mice suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases in each group are observed. As shown in Table 3, the weight of mice in normal group is increased slowly and the weight of mice in model group is increased more rapidly. After 6 weeks of administration, the other administration groups except for the silybin phospholipid complex group could inhibit the weight increases of mice in different degrees (P<0.05), a combined use of silybin-phospholipid complex, Pu'er tea extract and vitamin E is significantly superior to using silybin-phospholipid complex alone.

TABLE 3 Effects of each tested substance on body weight of mice (g, n = 10, x ± S) Body weight (g) Before Administration Administration Administration Group administration for 2 weeks for 4 weeks for 6 weeks Normal 21.35 ± 0.58 23.10 ± 1.05 24.41 ± 1.11 26.70 ± 1.56 Model 48.88 ± 3.27 54.98 ± 2.78 58.99 ± 3.26 61.50 ± 4.01 Silybin-phospholipid 47.19 ± 3.58 54.39 ± 4.57 58.45 ± 5.64 61.57 ± 5.61 complex Combination 1 46.98 ± 3.54 52.51 ± 3.12 55.80 ± 4.77  58.14 ± 3.10* Combination 2 47.50 ± 3.02  52.14 ± 2.27*  54.99 ± 2.98**  57.11 ± 3.92* Combination 3 48.25 ± 2.16   51.39 ± 2.39**  53.22 ± 2.10**  56.07 ± 3.35** Combination 4 47.67 ± 3.14   51.56 ± 1.47**  53.29 ± 2.28**  55.19 ± 3.11** Combination 5 48.52 ± 2.04   51.29 ± 2.26**  53.72 ± 2.06**  56.57 ± 3.51** *Compared with the model group P < 0.05; **Compared with the model group P < 0.01;

4.2 Effects of Each Tested Substance on Liver Index

As shown in Table 4, the body weight, liver wet weight and liver index of mice in the model group are significantly increased compared with the normal group (P<0.01), and the silybin-phospholipid complex can decrease the wet weight of the liver (P<0.05), but has no significant effect on body weight and liver index of the mice (P>0.05); compatibility group of silybin-phospholipid complex+Pu'er tea extract+VE can significantly reduce the wet weight and liver index of the liver of mice (P<0.05), the effect of a combined use of the three is significantly better than that of using the silybin-phospholipid complex alone.

TABLE 4 Effects of each test substance on liver index of mice Group Body weight (g) Liver wet weight (g) Liver index % Normal 26.20 ± 1.86 1.05 ± 0.13 4.02 ± 0.39 Model 61.60 ± 4.08 4.13 ± 0.43 6.70 ± 0.62 Silybin- 61.98 ± 5.43 3.79 ± 0.35* 6.15 ± 0.77 phospholipid complex Combination 1 56.37 ± 3.12** 2.74 ± 0.37** 4.86 ± 0.70* Combination 2 57.39 ± 3.17* 3.50 ± 0.23** 6.01 ± 0.53* Combination 3 57.38 ± 3.88* 2.87 ± 0.38** 5.04 ± 0.86** Combination 4 55.87 ± 2.20** 2.64 ± 0.31** 4.72 ± 0.60** Combination 5 56.57 ± 3.16** 2.70 ± 0.31** 4.78 ± 0.62** *Compared with the model group P < 0.05; **Compared with the model group P < 0.01;

4.3 Effects of Each Tested Substance on Blood Lipid, Liver Function and Insulin Resistance Indexes of Mice

As shown in Table 5, the levels of serum TC, LDL, ALT, AST and insulin resistance index are significantly increased in non-alcoholic fatty liver model mice compared with the normal group (P<0.05); there is no significant improvement in the abnormal elevation of the silybin-phospholipid complex (P>0.05); the silybin-phospholipid complex, Pu'er tea extract and vitamin E compatibility group of different proportions, except for no significant improvement in serum AST by the combination 2 (P>0.05), the other compositions can significantly reduce TC, LDL-C, ALT, AST and insulin resistance indexes (P<0.05), and the effect is better than that of using the silybin-phospholipid complex alone.

TABLE 5 Effects of each tested substance on blood lipid, liver function and insulin resistance indexes of mice Insulin resistance Group TC LDL-C ALT AST indexes Normal  3.10 ± 0.23 0.24 ± 0.10 58.89 ± 35.26 124.78 ± 53.41 0.587 ± 0.129  Model 10.07 ± 1.08 2.11 ± 0.56 404.67 ± 102.01 190.89 ± 31.63 1.142 ± 0.227  Silybin- 10.00 ± 0.83 2.22 ± 0.32 431.24 ± 98.65  182.74 ± 24.86 0.988 ± 0.373  phospholipid complex Combination 1  7.01 ± 0.99*  1.11 ± 0.21*  249.51 ± 133.14*  116.19 ± 21.43* 0.689 ± 0.124** Combination 2  8.79 ± 0.68*  1.47 ± 0.22* 370.48 ± 76.03   149.74 ± 32.14* 0.830 ± 0.272*  Combination 3  7.95 ± 1.25*  1.29 ± 0.17*  280.58 ± 141.68*  143.10 ± 18.05* 0.785 ± 0.139** Combination 4  6.34 ± 0.73*  1.02 ± 0.23* 215.47 ± 83.09*  103.97 ± 10.15* 0.612 ± 0.103** Combination 5  7.12 ± 0.90*  1.15 ± 0.19*  259.51 ± 129.13*  118.78 ± 21.36* 0.732 ± 0.159** *Compared with the model group P < 0.05; **Compared with the model group P < 0.01;

4.4 Effects of Each Tested Substance on Liver Pathology in Mice

Oil red O staining: according to the size and number of red particles in hepatocytes of liver frozen issues stained by Oil red O under light microscope, it is divided into mild, moderate and severe type. Mild, that is, ⅓-⅔ of red granules are shown per unit area under light microscope, graded as 1 point; moderate, that is, more than ⅔ of the hepatocytes containing red particles, graded as 2 points; severe, that is, almost all of the hepatocytes containing red particles, graded as 3 points; no steatosis is observed, graded as 0 points.

As shown in Table 6, steatosis occurred in nearly all the hepatocytes in the liver tissues of the model group, and the pathological scores are significantly increased than that in the normal group (P<0.01); there is no significant improvement on liver pathological scores by using silybin-phospholipid complex or Pu'er tea extract alone (P>0.05); the combination of different proportions of the Pu'er tea extract, silybin-phospholipid complex and vitamin E can significantly improve the liver steatosis, reduce the pathological scores (P<0.05), and the effect is better than that of using the silybin-phospholipid complex or the Pu'er tea extract alone.

TABLE 6 Effects of each tested substance on liver pathology in mice Group Oil red O staining pathological score Normal 0.000 ± 0.000 Model 2.800 ± 0.422 Silybin-phospholipid complex 2.500 ± 0.404 Pu'er tea extract 2.300 ± 0.675 Combination 1 2.000 ± 0.667** Combination 2 2.200 ± 0.422** Combination 3 2.200 ± 0.632* Combination 4 1.600 ± 0.516* Combination 5 2.200 ± 0.632** *Compared with the model group P < 0.05; **Compared with the model group P < 0.01;

5 Experimental Conclusions

The above experimental results show that: the body weight, liver index, blood lipid, ALT, AST and insulin resistance index are significantly increased in the mice of the non-alcoholic fatty liver model group compared with those in the blank group, and the liver tissues are severe steatosis. Pu'er tea can improve insulin resistance, regulate blood lipids, combined with silybin and vitamin E having strong free radical scavenging and anti-oxidative stress ability, the combination use of the three has a significant improvement in liver steatosis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an in-vitro release curve, wherein, each sample is reference preparation of Shui Lin Jia, Shui Lin Jia without Pu'er tea, and silybin-phospholipid-Pu'er tea compositions prepared in embodiments 16-20.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is further illustrated by the following specific examples, but not intended to limit the present invention.

Embodiment 1

Taking 26.25 g of silybin, 45 g of soybean phospholipid, 75 g of Pu'er tea extract, and 18.75 g of vitamin E.

{circle around (1)} Preparation of silybin complex liquid: weighing a prescription amount of silybin, soybean phospholipid, and dissolving them in the anhydrous ethanol, heating and refluxing to clarify the solution and continuing to heat for 1 h, then concentrated under reduced pressure and recycling the ethanol to 15% of the original volume for later use;

{circle around (2)} Granulation: weighing a prescription amount of Pu'er tea extract as a base material, taking the silybin complex liquid prepared in step {circle around (1)} as a feed liquid, preparing the granules by a fluidization spray method with a fluidized bed, controlling the temperature of materials at 40° C., drying at 60° C. for 20 min after the liquid complexes are all sprayed in for later use;

{circle around (3)} Mixing vitamin E and the granules prepared in step{circle around (2)} uniformly in an equal incremental manner, bagging, made into 1,000 bags of granules.

Embodiment 2

Taking 180 g of silybin, 195 g of soybean phospholipid, 600 g of Pu'er tea extract, and 120 g of vitamin E.

{circle around (1)} Preparation of silybin complex liquid: weighing a prescription amount of silybin, soybean phospholipid, and dissolving them in the anhydrous ethanol, heating and refluxing to clarify the solution and continuing to heat for 1.5 h, then concentrated under reduced pressure and recycling the ethanol to 20% of the original volume for later use;

{circle around (2)} Granulation: weighing a prescription amount of Pu'er tea extract as a base material, taking the silybin composite liquid prepared in step{circle around (1)} as a feed liquid, preparing the granules by a fluidization spray method with a fluidized bed, controlling the temperature of materials at 65° C., drying at 65° C. for 60 min after the liquid complexes are all sprayed in for later use;

{circle around (3)} Mixing vitamin E and the granules prepared in step{circle around (2)} uniformly in an equal incremental manner, bagging, made into 1,000 bags of granules.

Embodiment 3

Taking 26.25 g of silybin, 195 g of phospholipid, 600 g of Pu'er tea extract, and 18.75 g of vitamin E.

{circle around (1)} Preparation of silybin complex liquid: weighing a prescription amount of silybin, soybean phospholipid, and dissolving them in the anhydrous ethanol, heating and refluxing to clarify the solution and continuing to heat for 0.5 h, then concentrated under reduced pressure and recycling the ethanol to 5% of the original volume for later use;

{circle around (2)} Granulation: weighing a prescription amount of Pu'er tea extract as a base material, taking the silybin composite liquid prepared in step{circle around (1)} as a feed liquid, preparing the granules by a fluidization spray method with a fluidized bed, controlling the material temperature at 50° C., drying at 55° C. for 10 min after the liquid complexes are all sprayed in for later use;

{circle around (3)} Mixing vitamin E and the granules prepared in step{circle around (2)} uniformly in an equal incremental manner, bagging, made into 1,000 bags of granules.

Embodiment 4

Taking 26.25 g of silybin, 195 g of phospholipid, 75 g of Pu'er tea extract and 120 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 5

Taking 180 g of silybin, 45 g of phospholipid, 75 g of Pu'er tea extract and 18.75 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 6

Taking 180 g of silybin, 45 g of phospholipid, 600 g of Pu'er tea extract and 120 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 7

Taking 180 g of silybin, 195 g of phospholipid, 75 g of Pu'er tea extract and 120 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 8

Taking 26.25 g of silybin, 48.75 g of phospholipid, 75 g of Pu'er tea extract and 37.5 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 9

Taking 26.25 g of silybin, 48.75 g of phospholipid, 300 g of Pu'er tea extract and 37.5 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 10

Taking 52.5 g of silybin, 97.5 g of phospholipid, 300 g of Pu'er tea extract and 9.375 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 11

Taking 75 g of silybin, 90 g of phospholipid, 240 g of Pu'er tea extract and 90 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 12

Taking 90 g of silybin, 108 g of phospholipid, 270 g of Pu'er tea extract and 75 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 13

Taking 105 g of silybin, 126 g of phospholipid, 300 g of Pu'er tea extract and 75 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 14

Taking 105 g of silybin, 195 g of phospholipid, 300 g of Pu'er tea extract and 75 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 15

Taking 120 g of silybin, 150 g of phospholipid, 360 g of Pu'er tea extract and 90 g of vitamin E, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 16

Taking 105 g of silybin, 126 g of phospholipid, 300 g of Pu'er tea extract and 82.3 g of vitamin E acetate, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 17

Taking 105 g of silybin, 126 g of phospholipid, 300 g of Pu'er tea extract and 92.4 g of vitamin E succinate, and preparing 1,000 bags of granules according to the method of Embodiment 1.

Embodiment 18

Taking the granules of Embodiment 8, adding 549 g of microcrystalline cellulose and 64 g of sodium carboxymethyl starch, mixing uniformly, encapsulated into No. 0 capsules to obtain 1,000 granules.

Embodiment 19

Taking the granules of Embodiment 9, adding 324 g of microcrystalline cellulose and 64 g of sodium carboxymethyl starch, mixing uniformly, encapsulated into No. 0 capsules to obtain 1,000 granules.

Embodiment 20

Taking the granules of Embodiment 10, adding 308 g of microcrystalline cellulose and 32 g of sodium carboxymethyl starch, mixing uniformly, encapsulated into capsules to obtain 1,000 capsules.

Embodiment 21

Taking the granules of Embodiment 13, adding 194 g of microcrystalline cellulose, mixing uniformly, encapsulated into capsules to obtain 1,000 capsules.

Embodiment 22

Taking the granules of Embodiment 14, adding 61 g of microcrystalline cellulose and 64 g of sodium carboxymethyl starch, mixing uniformly, encapsulated into capsules to obtain 1,000 capsules.

Embodiment 23

Taking the composition of Embodiment 8, adding 400 g of lactose, 149 g of starch and 64 g of sodium carboxymethyl starch, mixing uniformly, encapsulated into No. 0 capsules to obtain 1,000 granules.

Embodiment 24

Taking the composition of Embodiment 13, adding 90 g of lactose, 10 g of talc and 94 g of low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose, mixing uniformly, encapsulated into No. 0 capsules to obtain 1,000 granules.

Embodiment 25

Taking the granules of Embodiment 13, adding 194 g of microcrystalline cellulose, mixing uniformly, tablet pressing to obtain 1,000 tablets. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of preparing a pharmaceutical preparation comprising: (1) taking a prescription amount of raw materials for later use; (2) preparing a silybin complex liquid by weighing a prescription amount of silybin and a phospholipid, and dissolving them in anhydrous ethanol, heating and refluxing to clarify the solution and continuing to heat for a time, then concentrating the clear solution under reduced pressure to a concentrated volume, to obtain the silybin complex liquid for later use; (3) granulating by weighing a prescription amount of Pu'er tea extract as a base material, taking the silybin complex liquid prepared in step (2) as a feed liquid, and preparing granules by a fluidization spray method with a fluidized bed, and drying after the liquid complex is all sprayed in for later use; (4) achieving total blending by mixing the prescription amount of VE and the granules of step 3 uniformly to obtain the pharmaceutical composition; and (5) combining the pharmaceutical composition and the pharmaceutically acceptable carriers to make the pharmaceutical preparation, wherein the pharmaceutical composition comprises 8.75-60 parts by weight of silybin, 15-65 parts by weight of phospholipid, 25-200 parts by weight of Pu'er tea extract; and 6.25-40 parts by weight of vitamin E, wherein the pharmaceutically acceptable carriers are 0.1-99.9% of the pharmaceutical preparation by weight; or wherein the pharmaceutically acceptable carriers are 40-70% of the pharmaceutical preparation by weight.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the pharmaceutical composition comprises 8.75-60 parts by weight of silybin, 15-65 parts by weight of phospholipid, 25-200 parts by weight of Pu'er tea extract; and 6.25-40 parts by weight of vitamin E and wherein the pharmaceutically acceptable carriers are 0.1-99.9% of the pharmaceutical preparation by weight.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the pharmaceutical composition comprises 8.75-60 parts by weight of silybin, 15-65 parts by weight of phospholipid, 25-200 parts by weight of Pu'er tea extract; and 6.25-40 parts by weight of vitamin E, and wherein the pharmaceutically acceptable carriers are 40-70% of the pharmaceutical preparation by weight
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the heating time in step (2) is 0.5-1.5 hours; the concentrated volume is 5%-20% of the original volume and the temperature of the concentration under reduced pressure is 60-80° C.; the parameters of the fluidized bed in step (3) are that the temperature of the materials is 40-65° C., and parameters such as fan frequency, the inlet air temperature and the infusion frequency are adjusted to keep the materials in a good fluidization state during the granulation process; and wherein after the granulation is completed, the granules are dried for 10-60 minutes, and the drying temperature is 55-65° C.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the vitamin E is vitamin E acetate or vitamin E succinate.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the pharmaceutically acceptable carriers are selected from the group consisting of mannitol, sorbitol, sorbic acid or sylvite, sodium metabisulfite, sodium bisulfite, sodium thiosulfate, cysteine hydrochloride, mercaptoacetic acid, methionine, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, 1-dodecylazacycloheptan-2-one, disodium EDTA, calcium disodium EDTA, hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, amino acid, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium lactate, xylitol, maltose, glucose, fructose, dextran, glycine, starch, sucrose, lactose, mannitol, silicon derivative, cellulose and derivatives thereof, alginate, gelatin, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, glycerine, propylene glycol, ethanol, polysorbate 60-80, sorbitan monooleate, beeswax, lanolin, liquid paraffin, cetyl alcohol, gallic acid esters, agar, triethanolamine, basic amino acid, urea, allantoin, calcium carbonate, calcium bicarbonate, surfactant, polyethylene glycol, cyclodextrin, beta-cyclodextrin, kaolin, talc, calcium stearate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, and a carbonate, acetate, or phosphate salt of a monovalent alkali metal or aqueous solution thereof. 